The More The Merrier
by WhereAnythingGoes
Summary: The new year begins with a car speeding down the boardwalk, making a beeline for the water. Suicide would have been plausible if not for the bullet hole in the glass. It's the first murder of the year although given a few seconds it could have been the last murder of last year. Post S5 and features a few old guest characters. (Chapter 3 - Declan Rand)
1. Kickstarting the New Year

Counting down to the new year on the boardwalk was a tradition between Shawn and Gus. It was one of their longest lasting tradition, well, that and their Hitchcock before Halloween marathons. Ever since they were kids, they would go out to the boardwalk on New Year's Eve and watch the annual firework show. Gus' parents were never into the whole celebrating with the community thing, so he had always went with Spencers. Now, since Henry had lost interest or as Shawn liked to put it 'gotten old', they made plans to go with Juliet.

Gus took hold of the tray of coffees he purchased from a nearby vendor and moved towards the section of the boardwalk where the other half of Psych was leaning against the railing.

"Isn't this great?" Shawn exclaimed with a wide sweep of his arm to gesture to their surroundings, almost knocking the tray in Gus' hand.

"Watch it, Shawn," Gus took a step backwards to get out of Shawn's 'zone', frantically trying to regain his balance so he wouldn't spill scalding hot coffee everywhere.

Shawn frowned upon seeing the coffee. "Hey, why didn't you take the travel mugs I packed in the Blueberry? I had eggnog in there. Gus! Eggnog!" Shawn accepted the drink anyway, mainly because Gus was paying for it. Gus rarely paid for things for him, not since he maxed out his credit card. Again.

"I knew you got that eggnog on sale. There's a reason why it's cheaper after Christmas and that's because it's expired."

Shawn stared at his friend for a second before bursting out into laughter. Gus had no idea why he was laughing. He glanced around subconsciously to find that people were beginning to stare so he let out a small chuckle just for their audience's sake. Shawn straightened out and slapped Gus on the arm. Hard. "Expired. That's cute." He chortled, shaking his head as his laughs died down.

"Don't tell me you eat expired food. Shawn, there's a reason why they put a 'best before date'. You can get sic-" Before Gus could launch into a health and safety rant he noticed that Shawn was busy _not _listening to him, but distractedly looking over his shoulder. Before Gus could ask what he was looking at he heard a greeting from a familiar voice.

"Hey guys. I'm so sorry that I'm late." Juliet offered the duo a smile before leaning up and pressing a kiss on Shawn's cheek. It was at times like these that Gus wished he had a girlfriend. Then he remembered what Shawn had told him a few weeks ago. That he was a beautiful, strong, black man that don't need no woman. Gus had to remind him that it didn't go like that, but it was surprisingly uplifting.

Gus took a sip from his cup as Shawn beamed and wrapped an arm around his girlfriend's waist, pulling her into a brief hug. "Hi, Jules."

"Hello, Juliet." Gus held out the tray towards her and quirked an eyebrow. "Coffee?"

Juliet clapped her hands together and accepted the remaining cup. "Thank you."

"Guys! Guys, guys, guys." Shawn jabbed Gus once for every word before pointing up at the night sky. "Look! It's starting!"

He looked up in time to see the first firework explode in the dark sky, illuminating the boardwalk with a green tinge. Fireworks were his favorite. Sure, they were loud, bright, and probably terrible for the environment, but they brought back childhood memories.

"Hey, Jules. It's almost midnight and you know what that means," Shawn raised an eyebrow at her, tipping his head slightly to the side.

Juliet responded with a lighthearted laugh and put her hands on her hips, tilting her head back at him. "Oh, I don't know," she responded, playing dumb to satisfy his needs to feel smart. "It's the New Year?"

"You're not wrong, but if I recall it's American tradition to kiss at midnight of New Year's Eve." He pointed out matter-of-factly. Nudging Gus, he said "Tell us when it's exactly midnight! Man, I know you synchronize your clock so it's coincides with the earth spinning."

Gus was tempted to correct Shawn, to tell him that what he said didn't make any sense, but he didn't want to ruin Shawn's moment. So instead he rolled his eyes and glanced down at his Rolex. He waited until the second hand got horrifyingly close to signalling the start of a new year before notifying his friends. "You've got three seconds." Having said that, he dropped his arm to his side and looked up at the sky, waiting with boyish excitement for the most extravagant firework to end the year.

_3..._

Shawn and Juliet leaned in for a kiss.

_2..._

Gus watched as the firework was launched into the sky.

_1..._

Four things happened in that last second. The first and the most obvious being that it was a New Year. The second was the magnificent firework display; one colorful firework after the other lighting up the sky. The third was Shawn and Juliet's first kiss of the year. The fourth thing was that a man was shot while driving. Gus didn't acknowledge the latter until the crowd's delightful cheers turned into screams of horror. Whirling around, he let out his own feminish scream to match Shawn's as an oncoming car's headlights grew brighter and brighter the closer it got to them. Gus stopped screaming long enough dive out of the way of the approaching vehicle while Shawn dove in the other direction, taking Juliet with him. He hit the floor on his shoulder, but didn't stop there. He rolled like his life depended on it, tucking his arms and knees in like a pro.

Instead of slowing down, the SUV accelerated and it didn't stop until it smashed through the railings lining the boardwalk. Gus hopped to his feet, but he could only see the rear end of the car as it sunk deeper and deeper into the dark, blue abyss. Juliet was already rushing towards the damaged railing, her phone pressed against her ear.

"Carlton? It's Juliet. I think I just witnessed a suicide."

What a way to start the new year, Gus thought, mentally tsking the person responsible. For shame. Then he heard Shawn groan. Gus scrambled over to where his best friend was peeling himself off the floor.

"Dude, two things. One, remind me to work out more. Man, that barrel roll drained the life out of me. Whew!" Shawn wheezed, resting his elbow on the crook of Gus shoulder. Gus shook him off. "Two. That..." He nodded towards where Juliet was pacing along the edge of the boardwalk, pausing every now and then to look over what remained of the railings, into the water.

"That, my chocolate colored friend, was no suicide. It was murder."

* * *

**A/N: Here's a fic to start off 2013! It's my first Psych fic, so feedback would be great. It's also my first fic in a year. I took a break from writing a while ago, but I started up again on this account. I'm planning on bringing back a few guest stars because face it, Psych has the best guest stars. I'm not even talking about the actors, but the characters themselves. A few I can think of on the spot is Det. Goochberg (Scary Sherry: Bianca's Toast) and Declan Rand (Shawn 2.0). Anyway, if this gets enough reviews I'll continue it!**


	2. Briefing Lassie

Shawn clutched his coffee in his hand, observing the chaos unraveling around him. Only five minutes had passed since the paramedics arrived, but it seemed like hours. He surveyed his surroundings, taking note of every single little detail of the event unfolding before him in case he needed evidence to backup something. Witnesses were huddled in groups by the boardwalk, murmuring quietly to themselves as they waited to be questioned. Paramedics surrounded a sopping wet body strapped on a gurney, unconscious, not dead. They hadn't reported on his status yet, not even Jules. After the car shot off the boardwalk, two guys dove in to rescue the driver while the crowd, Shawn and Gus included, watched in awe. Needless to say, they succeeded and Shawn was more than relieved. Not only because a man's life was saved which was great and all, but that meant they had a potential case on their hands. One that could pay their electricity bills. God only knows how long Shawn could survive on reruns of Twin Peaks.

Several police vehicles were stationed by the curb, forming a line to keep the bystanders out of the crime scene. A few officers were keeping the crowd in line while others were discussing how they would fish out the SUV. Almost immediately after Juliet made the call, cop cars pulled up one by one, their sirens wailing and illuminating the streets with a blue-red tinge. Their timing was impeccable, Shawn thought and made a mental note to rub that in Lassie's face when he finally showed up. He was probably sleeping through the new year celebration. How lame.

Shawn took a gulp of his now cold coffee to promptly spit it out all over Gus' cup on the railing. When he looked up he noticed Gus giving him the disapproving shake of the head. Shawn shrugged his shoulders at him, mouthing the word 'what?' which in return Gus mouthed 'you know what' with a look of mild disgust. Rolling his eyes, Shawn punched his buddy in the arm. Naturally Gus punched him back which spurred a punching war.

"Alright, settle down!" At first Shawn thought Lassiter was talking to them, but then he realized he was shouting at the crowd. Lassiter shouldered his way through the audience behind the cop car wall, an annoyed look on his face.

It was only natural to beam when Lassiter was frowning. "Lassie! Boy, am I glad to see you!"

Lassiter smoothed down the invisible creases on his dark jacket irritably. "Why are you smiling? Spencer, a man could have died."

The grin on Shawn's face faded instantly and he nodded solemnly, his urge to annoy Lassie peaking. "Yes, I'm sorry, your majesty." He received an unappreciative eye roll in response.

"Detective O'Hara." Lassiter barked, whirling around to face his significantly shorter partner. "Explain to me why I'm not in bed, fast asleep, but outside in the middle of the night looking at these two imbeciles."

Shawn exchanged mock-offended looks with Gus but didn't say anything. He was used to being called an imbecile. Or an idiot. Or a moron. Or a Bradley Cooper look alike. Okay, maybe not the last one. Not often at least.

"Oh, right. Well, I don't know what they told you so I'll start from the top," she gestured with her arm to the two soaking wet men wrapped in heaps of shock blankets by the ambulance. "After the car went in, those two rescued him. The paramedics said it was a good thing that they did too, a few more minutes and he would have drowned. Someone's going to take them back to question them. About the car; it's too late to search it now. We're going to have a team ready in the morning to work on it, but until then the area's being closed off. And as for the victim, we don't know much about him yet other than he's male and in his mid-to-late thirties. We don't have an ID." Juliet pursed her lips as she racked her brain for any missing information before nodding. "I think that's it."

Lassiter didn't speak for a few seconds, his eyes focused on the water. It was like he was lagging behind a few sentences on Juliet's briefing. Soon, he caught up and as he was about to say something, probably 'good work O'hara', Shawn figured it would be a perfect time to have a psychic moment. Leaping at the chance to speak, quite literally in fact, he budded in between Lassiter and Juliet from the sidelines. "No it's not!" Shawn interrupted, outstretching an arm to give him some space and bringing his other hand to his forehead. Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath as though in deep in thought. In reality he was thinking about what Gus would look like in a tutu. It was hilarious.

"What is i-"

He pressed his free index finger against the older man's mouth and shushed him. As expected, he felt his finger being twisted in an unnatural way. Yanking his hand back in pain, he pointed his two good fingers at Lassiter, miming a gun. "Pew, pew...pew." Then he pretended his hands were gripping a steering wheel and imitated the sounds of a screeching car skidding along the road. "Vrooooooom."

"For crying out loud, just spit it out, Spencer! " Lassiter folded his arms across his chest and glared menacingly at him with his oh so cold, steely, blue eyes.

Gus elbowed him in the ribs, tipping his head towards the detectives with a 'stop-fooling-around' look Shawn thought only moms could pull off.

"Relax, I about to get there," He whispered to him before spreading out his legs and arms, posing dramatically with his eyes closed before pointing an accusing finger at Lassiter.

"This man was shot!" Opening his eyes, he realized he was _way_ off. Spinning around, he pointed to where the paramedics were loading the injured man into the ambulance.

Nudging Gus, Shawn spoke in a low voice so the detectives wouldn't hear. "Dude, we totally have to get us one of those." He said, referring to the gurney.

Lassiter stared at him, unimpressed by his statement. He unfolded his arms started slowly clapping sarcastically. "Congratulations Spencer. Is that what the paramedics told you after pestering them?"

"Actually, Carlton, the paramedics haven't said a word to anyone." Juliet piped up and smiled at Shawn, clearly impressed by his 'psychic abilities'. He smiled back sweetly.

As the words left her mouth, one of the paramedics working on the patient came over. "Am I interrupting?" She asked, glancing at the four.

"Not at all," Lassiter responded, his eyes never leaving Shawn's. "Tell me that man wasn't shot and this buffoon was wrong."

The paramedic shifted her gaze from the detective to the buffoon he was referring to then back to Lassiter. "I'm sorry, but I can't tell you that. He's suffering from a gunshot wound to the abdomen. Luckily, it didn't hit anything important, but from what we can tell he has a concussion. A week or two in the hospital won't hurt." Lassiter let out a huff and the paramedic gave him a weird look. "He came to for a few minutes before passing out again. We're going to take him back and see what we can do for him."

As she spoke, Shawn was trying to hide a grin. He waited until she had left before bursting out into his usual tirade at Lassiter. "And the mighty psychic strikes again. Whaaaat?" He raised a clenched hand for Gus to quickly and subtly fist bump.

Lassiter just scoffed and walked away without a word.

"Rendered speechless," Gus commented with a hint of amusement.

"That was great, Shawn!" Juliet enthused, watching as Lassiter walked further and further away. "We're going to stick around for a while longer, but you guys should get some rest. It's been a long day."

"You got that right," Gus muttered, slipping his hand in his pocket to root for his keys. Shawn could tell that he was more than ready to head on home and hop into bed. To be honest, so was he.

"Well, good luck with Mr. Grumpy Pants over there," Shawn said with a light smile. "But if you need any more help or any of this," Shawn pointed at his temple. "You know who to call. Psych!"

"Thanks. Good night Shawn. And Gus." She added quickly before jogging after Lassiter.

Once he knew she was out of earshot, Shawn shouldered Gus before starting to walk towards the Blueberry. "Dude, I'm totally getting us on that case."

"And how are you going to do that?" Gus inquired with genuine curiosity.

"With this." Shawn was about to press his fingers against his temples, but Gus caught on and slapped his hands away. Shooting him a look of annoyance, Shawn shut his mouth and gave his best friend the 'ask-me-about-my-glorious-plan' look.

"How?" Gus deadpanned. "We don't have anything new to present to them and if you think I'm going to dive into that freezing cold water in the middle of the night, you're insane."

"No, of course not! We'll leave the stuff that requires physical activity to them." That being said, Shawn continued with his elaborated yet drawn out explanation. "Tomorrow morning when everyone is here fishing out that car, we'll be at the hospital getting info out of the victim."

"If he's awake. And you do realize at this point they'll only let in family. If not only that, then detectives. Believe it or not, Shawn, we're only private detectives. And speaking of the police, there's probably going to be someone guarding his room. Even if we did get any information, you can't forget that the victim will recognize us when we come around again with Juliet and Lassie. Your cover will be blown!"

The good thing about Gus was that he saw all the flaws. And apparently felt the need to point every single one of them out. Maybe that was a good thing since Shawn hadn't thought about any of the things he stated. "Gus, do you really think I haven't thought of all that? Don't worry, I've got it covered." Shawn chuckled and patted his friend on the arm. He had everything planned out. Well, not _everything_... They just needed to figure out a room number, create a distraction, then slip by without anyone noticing. Easy peasy lemon squeezy, Shawn thought. As for being recognized... It didn't take him long to come up with an idea. He wasn't sure if it was a good idea or one that was created by cold coffee and sleep deprivation. Either way he was sticking with it as he had nothing better to go off on.

"We're not going to talk to him. A certain faux criminal profiler is."

* * *

**A/N: And in the next chapter I'll be introducing the first two guest characters (who I've listed in the author's note in the first chapter). I'm hoping that they'll be regulars in this story. What other guest characters should I bring in? I'll try to find a way of incorporating them into my story.**

_**Ksjshules041208: I'm not sure if I can do that to Declan. I love, love, love him. My obsession with Nestor Carbonell might have something to do with that, but I loved his character too. **__**It's not everyday you get to play around with an insanely rich and bored ex of Jules'.**_ As for Goochberg; she deserved another episode.

_**TheLostGenius: Oh, it will be awkward. You'll have to wait for the next chapter to see!**_


	3. Declan Rand

The thing about being partners with Shawn was that there were times when he didn't clue Gus in as to what their plan of action was until the very last minute. Gus stood in front of the looming gates of the familiar residence, unsure of what exactly was going on. Shawn was a few feet away from him, examining a little box wired to the interior of the large mansion, trying to find the button to turn on the microphone.

The morning had been a blur. Gus woke up to what he thought was going to be a normal day, but then he found Shawn sitting in his kitchen, eating a bowl of Fruit Loops and snacking on pineapple chunks. The last time Shawn had broken into his house ended with him covered head to toe in dirt with an open coffin before him. Needless to say they solved that case, but wound up with a fine for grave digging. Before Gus could have a chunk for himself, he was handed his car keys and whisked out the door. It was when they were running down four flights of stairs (the elevator was out of order) when he finally had the chance to ask where the heck they were going and when Shawn told him, Gus was so surprised he nearly tripped down the last few steps.

"What? What on earth makes you think that's a good idea?" Gus tried to sound serious, but his wheezing mad it hard. "I mean, not only is he not a real criminal profiler, but you're dating his ex."

Shawn scrambled down the stairs alongside him, dismissing both of Gus' arguments with a dainty wave of the hand. "Sure, he's not authorized, but give him the credentials and he could be. He has talent, not to mention a face that isn't ours. All we really need is a stand in to get us the info. Why not use a psychology nut that can also get us a general suspect description? And about Jules; he doesn't need to know I'm dating her. Just because he can't lie doesn't mean I can't."

Gus had to admit his argument was valid. Which was why he followed through with Shawn's plan and wound up standing in front of a pair of monogrammed gates. Walking over to Shawn, Gus noticed that he had found the right button and was stabbing multiple times at the buzzer, speaking into the microphone as loudly and obnoxiously as possible. "Knock knock!"

After a few seconds of silence a familiar voice responded. "Let me guess...Shawn Spencer?"

Shawn frowned at the little black box. "You were supposed to say 'who's there'. I thought everyone knew that."

"Shawn, this is no time for knock knock jokes." Gus intervened, pushing past the other man to get to the microphone. "Hello, Declan. We need your help."

There was a pause. Gus could tell Declan was thinking about the possible consequences of letting them into his place.

"It's always something with you guys, isn't it?"

He was going to say no.

"Alright, come on in." The speaker shut off and the gates swung open mechanically. Gus was half surprised that Declan let them in. He exchanged knowing looks with Shawn before starting towards the front door.

Shawn rapped his knuckles against the door and bounced back, rocking on his heels like an impatient kid. Gus on the other hand was busy mentally calculating their chance of pulling off their little plan. Considering that Lassiter and Juliet were busy with the car, they had a few hours to get something impressive out of the patient before the detective arrived for questioning.

The door opened, revealing none other than Declan Rand. "Hey, Shawn," he greeted him, nodding curtly in Gus' direction. "Gus." Declan slipped his hands in his pockets and offered them a wry smile. "It's been a while, huh? I haven't seen you two since... well, since Juliet left me. How is she?"

Gus jumped in quickly before Shawn could say something stupid. "We don't usually pry when it comes to her personal life, but in general she seems to be doing very well." He told the other man, flashing Shawn a quick 'you-owe-me' look. In return he received a 'thanks-bro' head tilt. Declan's dark eyes shifted from Gus to Shawn and for a second Gus was afraid he picked up on his lie.

Thankfully, he dropped the subject altogether. "That's great to hear," Stepping aside, Declan granted them space to enter. "So what do you need me for this time?" Declan asked as he shut the door and followed them to the foyer.

"A case," Gus told him. As expected, Declan shook his head. No.

"Like I told you guys before, I can't assist the SBPD with any cases." He reminded them, shrugging apathetically.

"Tell him, Shawn." Gus turned to look at his friend who had his eyes glued on the floor. Oh no. He knew that this was going to happen. Shawn wasn't exactly the type to ask for help, especially from someone he had a sworn rivalry against. Someone like Declan. They were too alike to be best friends so the only logical explanation was to be rivals. Even though it was mostly one-sided. If he asked for help, Declan would be winning.

Shawn brought his head up but avoided looking at Declan. "I need some information for a case... something the SPBD doesn't know... so I can psychically reveal it to them." With every word, Gus could hear the pain in his friend's voice. He knew that Shawn wasn't so keen on asking Declan for help, but the fact that he was made Gus a little proud.

Declan stared at him for a while, as though wondering whether or not he was being serious. "So you're asking me to help you to keep up your psychic shindig?" He rubbed his mouth, hiding a smile.

"I need to keep up my reputation and you're the only one who can help me do that. There are only four people out there that know I'm not a real psychic." Shawn said, holding up three fingers then corrected himself by adding one more. "And technically you're not helping the SBPD. You're helping us help the SBPD."

"And why should I help you?" A good question.

"For the greater good of humanity?" Gus chipped in. "Because you're bored? Because you're itching to solve an attempted murder?"

"Woah, an attempted murder?" Declan looked at the two with a new found interest. He took a moment to think about it before responding. "Alright, because it's my civil duty to help people...I'm in."

"We owe you." Gus said, knowing that Shawn wouldn't.

"But you can't tell _anyone_ that you helped us." Shawn glanced around self-consciously and leaned towards Declan. "Like, anyone or else my cover is blown."

Declan took a step back so Shawn was out of his personal space. "Believe it or not, I have nothing against you, Shawn."

Shawn narrowed his eyes, then snatched a pen and pad of paper from a nearby bureau and scribbled down the hospital's address in his usual chicken scratch.

"Meet us in the lobby and we'll fill you in."

Slapping the pad of paper against Declan's chest, he grabbed Gus by the arm and half-dragged, half-guided him outside. Time was of the essence.


End file.
